Tuesday, March 07, 2006

On Jan. 30th 1976, eight Jews who were charged with "disturbing the peace" because they had prayed on the Temple Mount were acquitted by an Israeli court. Ten days later (on Feb. 9) East Jerusalem high schools rioted to protest the court decision. An Arab shopkeepers strike was then launched and rioting soon spread across the West Bank. On February 17th I drew this cartoon.

The situation was like an old Jewish joke:

Abe knows that most congregations raise money for their synagogues by selling tickets at the High Holidays, so he's not surprised when, trying to enter a synagogue, he is stopped and asked if he's got a ticket."No" says Abe, "I just want to go in and see if my friend Sam is inside. Let me go in. It'll only take a minute.""Fine" says the guy at the door, "go in, but don't let me catch you praying!"

Below is a photo taken at Holyland Experience in Orlando, Florida. It shows the Biblical Temple on the Holy Mountain in the city of Jerusalem as it appeared, just before its destruction by the Romans in A.D. 66 (504 years before the birth of Mohammed). For more info and photos click on the picture.